← The Anatomy of Melancholy

The Synopsis of the Second Partition

Cure of melancholy is either

  • Sect 1. General to all, which contains
  • Unlawful means forbidden,
  • Memb. 1. From the devil, magicians, witches, &c., by charms, spells, incantations, &c.
  • Quest. 1. Whether they can cure this, or other such like diseases?
  • Quest. 2. Whether, if they can so cure, it be lawful to seek to them for help?
  • or Lawful means, which are
  • Memb. 2. Immediately from God, a Jove principium by prayer &c.
  • Memb. 3. Quest. 1. Whether saints and their relics can help this infirmity?
  • Quest. 2. Whether it be lawful to sue to them for aid.
  • or Memb. 4. Mediately by Nature which concerns and works by
  • Subsect. 1. Physician, in whom is required science, confidence, honesty, &c.
  • Subsect. 2. Patient, in whom is required obedience, constancy, willingness, patience, confidence, bounty, &c., not to practise on himself.
  • Subsect. 3. Physic, which consists of
  • Dietetical ♈
  • Pharmaceutical ♉
  • Chirurgical ♊
  • or Particular to the three distinct species, ♋ ♌ ♍

♈ Sect. 2. Dietetical, which consists in reforming those six non-natural things, as in

  • Diet rectified 1. Memb.
  • Matter and quality 1 Subs.
  • Such meats as are easy of digestion, well-dressed, hot, sod, &c., young, moist, of good nourishment, &c.
  • Bread of pure wheat, well-baked.
  • Water clear from the fountain.
  • Wine and drink not too strong, &c.
  • Flesh
  • Mountain birds, partridge, pheasant, quails, &c. Hen, capon, mutton, veal, kid, rabbit, &c.
  • Fish
  • That live in gravelly waters, as pike, perch, trout, sea-fish, solid, white, &c.
  • Herbs
  • Borage, bugloss, balm, succory, endive, violets, in broth, not raw, &c.
  • Fruits and roots.
  • Raisins of the sun, apples corrected for wind, oranges, &c., parsnips, potatoes, &c.
  • or Subs. 2. Quantity.
  • At seasonable and unusual times of repast, in good order, not before the first be concocted, sparing, not overmuch of one dish.
  • Memb. 2. Rectification of retention and evacuation, as costiveness, venery, bleeding at nose, months stopped, baths, &c.
  • Memb. 3. Air rectified, with a digression of the air
  • Naturally in the choice and site of our country, dwelling-place, to be hot and moist, light, wholesome, pleasant &c.
  • Artificially, by often change of air, avoiding winds, fogs, tempests, opening windows, perfumes, &c.
  • Memb. 4. Exercise
  • Of body and mind, but moderate, as hawking, hunting, riding, shooting, bowling, fishing, fowling, walking in fair fields, galleries, tennis, bar.
  • Of mind, as chess, cards, tables &c., to see plays, masks, &c., serious studies, business, all honest recreations.
  • Memb. 5. Rectification of waking and terrible dreams, &c.
  • Memb. 6. Rectification of passions and perturbations of the mind. ♎

Memb. 6. Passions and perturbations of the mind rectified.

  • From himself
  • Subsect. 1. By using all good means of help, confessing to a friend, &c.
  • Avoiding all occasions of his infirmity.
  • Not giving way to passions, but resisting to his utmost.
  • or from his friends.
  • Subsect. 2. By fair and foul means, counsel, comfort, good persuasion, witty devices, fictions, and, if it be possible, to satisfy his mind.
  • Subsect. 3. Music of all sorts aptly applied.
  • Subsect. 4. Mirth and merry company.
  • Sect. 3. A consolatory digression, containing remedies to all discontents and passions of the mind.
  • Memb. 1. General discontents and grievances satisfied.
  • Memb. 2. Particular discontents, as deformity of body, sickness, baseness of birth, &c.
  • Memb. 3. Poverty and want, such calamites and adversities.
  • Memb. 4. Against servitude, loss of liberty, imprisonment, banishment, &c.
  • Memb. 5. Against vain fears, sorrows for death of friends, or otherwise.
  • Memb. 6. Against envy, livor, hatred, malice, emulation, ambition, and self-love, &c.
  • Memb. 7. Against repulses, abuses, injuries, contempts, disgraces, contumelies, slanders, and scoffs, &c.
  • Memb. 8. Against all other grievous and ordinary symptoms of this disease of melancholy.

♉ Sect. 4. Pharmaceutics, or Physic which cureth with medicines, with a digression of this kind of physic, is either Memb. 1. Subsect. 1.

  • General to all
  • Alterative
  • Simples altering melancholy, with a digression of exotic simples 2. Subs.
  • Herbs. 3. Subs.
  • To the heart; borage, bugloss, scorzonera, &c.
  • To the head; balm, hops, nenuphar, &c.
  • Liver; eupatory, artemisia, &c.
  • Stomach; wormwood, centaury, pennyroyal.
  • Spleen; ceterache, ash, tamarisk.
  • To Purify the blood; endive, succory, &c.
  • Against wind; origan, fennel, aniseed, &c.
  • 4. Subs Precious stones; as smaragdes, chelidonies, &c. Minerals;
  • or compounds altering melancholy, with a digression of compounds. 5. Subs.
  • Inwardly taken
  • Liquid
  • fluid
  • Wines; as of hellebore, bugloss, tamarisk, &c.
  • Syrups of borage, bugloss, hops, epithyme, endive, succory, &c.
  • or consisting.
  • Conserves of violets, maidenhair, borage, bugloss, roses, &c.
  • Confections; treacle, mithridate, eclegms or linctures.
  • or solid, as those aromatical confections.
  • hot
  • Diambra, dianthos.
  • Diamargaritum calidum.
  • Diamoscum dulce.
  • Electuarium de gemmis.
  • Laetificans Galeni et Rhasis.
  • or cold
  • Diamargaritum frigidum.
  • Diarrhodon abbatis.
  • Diacorolli, diacodium with their tables.
  • Condites of all sorts, &c.
  • or Outwardly used, as
  • Oils of camomile, violets, roses, &c.
  • Ointments, alablastritum, populeum, &c.
  • Liniments, plasters, cerotes, cataplasms, frontals, fomentations, epithymes, sacks, bags, odoraments, posies, &c.
  • or Purging ☾
  • or Particular to three distinct species, ♋ ♌ ♍.

Medicines purging melancholy are either Memb. 2.

  • Simples purging melancholy
  • 1. Subs. Upward, as vomits
  • Asrabecca, laurel, white hellebore, scilla, or sea-onion, antimony, tobacco
  • or Downward. 2. Subs.
  • More gentle; as senna, epithyme, polypody, mirobalanes, fumitory, &c.
  • Stronger; aloes, lapis Armenus, lapis lazuli, black hellebore.
  • or 3. Subs. Compounds purging melancholy
  • Superior parts
  • Mouth
  • swallowed
  • Liquid, as potions, juleps, syrups, wine of hellebore, bugloss, &c.
  • Solid, as lapis Armenus, and lazuli, pills of Indie, pills of fumitory, &c.
  • Electuaries, diasena, confection of hamech, hierologladium, &c.
  • or Not swallowed, as gargarisms, masticatories, &c.
  • or Nostrils, sneezing powders, odoraments, perfumes, &c.
  • or Inferior parts, as clysters strong and weak, and suppositories of Castilian soap, honey boiled, &c.

♊ Chirurgical physic, which consists of Memb. 3.

  • Phlebotomy, to all parts almost, and all the distinct species.
  • With knife, horseleeches.
  • Cupping-glasses.
  • Cauteries, and searing with hot irons, boring.
  • Dropax and sinapismus.
  • Issues to several parts, and upon several occasions.

♋ Sect. 5. Cure of head-melancholy. Memb. 1.

  • 1. Subsect. Moderate diet, meat of good juice, moistening, easy of digestion.
  • Good air.
  • Sleep more than ordinary.
  • Excrements daily to be voided by art or nature.
  • Exercise of body and mind not too violent, or too remiss, passions of the mind, and perturbations to be avoided.
  • Subsect. 2. Bloodletting, if there be need, or that the blood be corrupt, in the arm, forehead, &c., or with cupping-glasses.
  • Subsect. 3. Preparatives and purgers.
  • Preparatives; as syrup of borage, bugloss, epithyme, hops, with their distilled waters, &c.
  • Purgers; as Montanus, and Matthiolus helleborismus, Quercetanus, syrup of hellebore, extract of hellebore, pulvis Hali, antimony prepared, Rulandi aqua mirabilis; which are used, if gentler medicines will not take place, with Arnoldus, vinum buglossatum, senna, cassia, mirobalanes, aurum potabile, or before Hamech, Pil. Indae, Hiera, Pil. de lap. Armeno, lazuli.
  • Subsect. 4. Averters.
  • Cardan's nettles, frictions, clysters, suppositories, sneezings, masticatories, nasals, cupping-glasses.
  • To open the haemorrhoids with horseleeches, to apply horseleeches to the forehead without scarification, to the shoulders, thighs.
  • Issues, boring, cauteries, hot irons in the suture of the crown.
  • Subsect. 5. Cordials, resolvers, hinderers.
  • A cup of wine or strong drink.
  • Bezars stone, amber, spice.
  • Conserves of borage, bugloss, roses, fumitory.
  • Confection of Alchermes.
  • Electuarium laetificans Galeni et Rhasis, &c.
  • Diamargaritum frig. diaboraginatum, &c.
  • Subsect. 6. Correctors of accidents, as,
  • Odoraments of roses, violets.
  • Irrigations of the head, with the decoctions of nymphea, lettuce, mallows, &c.
  • Epithymes, ointments, bags to the heart.
  • Fomentations of oil for the belly.
  • Baths of sweet water, in which were sod mallows, violets, roses, water-lilies, borage flowers, ramsheads, &c.
  • To procure sleep, and are
  • Inwardly taken,
  • Simples
  • Poppy, nymphea, lettuce, roses, purslane, henbane, mandrake, nightshade, opium, &c.
  • or Compounds.
  • Liquid, as syrups of poppy, verbasco, violets, roses.
  • Solid, as requies Nicholai, Philonium, Romanum, Laudanum Paracelsi.
  • or Outwardly used, as
  • Oil of nymphea, poppy, violets, roses, mandrake, nutmegs.
  • Odoraments of vinegar, rosewater, opium.
  • Frontals of rose-cake, rose-vinegar, nutmeg.
  • Ointments, alablastritum, unguentum populeum, simple or mixed with opium.
  • Irrigations of the head, feet, sponges, music, murmur and noise of waters.
  • Frictions of the head and outward parts, sacculi of henbane, wormwood at his pillow, &c.
  • Against terrible dreams; not to sup late, or eat peas, cabbage, venison, meats heavy of digestion, use balm, hart's-tongue, &c.
  • Against ruddiness and blushing, inward and outward remedies.

♌ 2. Memb. Cure of melancholy over the body.

  • Diet, preparatives, purges, averters, cordials, correctors, as before.
  • Phlebotomy in this kind more necessary, and more frequent.
  • To correct and cleanse the blood with fumitory, senna, succory, dandelion, endive, &c.

♍ Cure of hypochondriacal or windy melancholy. 3. Memb.

  • Subsect. 1 Phlebotomy, if need require.
  • Diet, preparatives, averters, cordials, purgers, as before, saving that they must not be so vehement.
  • Use of pennyroyal, wormwood, centaury sod, which alone hath cured many.
  • To provoke urine with aniseed, daucus, asarum, &c., and stools, if need be, by clysters and suppositories.
  • To respect the spleen, stomach, liver, hypochondries.
  • To use treacle now and then in winter.
  • To vomit after meals sometimes, if it be inveterate.
  • Subsect. 2. To expel wind.
  • Inwardly Taken,
  • Simples,
  • Roots,
  • Galanga, gentian, enula, angelica, calamus aromaticus, zedoary, china, condite ginger, &c.
  • Herbs,
  • Pennyroyal, rue, calamint, bay leaves, and berries, scordium, bethany, lavender, camomile, centaury, wormwood, cumin, broom, orange pills.
  • Spices,
  • Saffron, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, pepper, musk, zedoary with wine, &c.
  • Seeds,
  • Aniseed, fennel-seed, ammi, cary, cumin, nettle, bays, parsley, grana paradisi.
  • or Compounds, as
  • Dianisum, diagalanga, diaciminum, diacalaminthes, electuarium de baccis lauri, benedicta laxativa, &c. pulvia carminativus, and pulvis descrip. Antidotario Florentine, aromaticum, rosatum, Mithridate.
  • or Outwardly used, as cupping-glasses to the hypochonries without scarification, oil of camomile, rue, aniseed, their decoctions, &c.